There are so many geniuses in the anime compilation! What's wrong with me joining?

"Leave it to me, but I'll need some props."

"Hmm, then go ahead and buy what you need; I'll reimburse you later."

After finalizing the general details with Ichiji Hoshika, Sakurakoji Talent put on a half-mask he had just picked up at a roadside shop, covering the upper half of his face, and waited quietly for the customers.

"What is that?" Seeing him like this, Ichiji Hoshika asked, puzzled.

"A mask I bought on the way here. Does it look good?"

"It's alright, I guess. Why are you wearing a mask?"

"I'm afraid others will only focus on my face and ignore the depth of the music."

"..."

If anyone else had said that, Ichiji Hoshika would have already snapped back, but thinking about his appearance, she had to admit that his concern was quite valid.

Tsk, what an annoying guy. She turned her head away, a strange sense of irritation rising in her heart.

Sakurakoji Talent smiled. This was naturally a joke; the reason he did this was because he had other concerns, but there was no need to mention them for now.

Although the venue at Starry wasn't large and the drinks were nothing to write home about, the lighting and sound equipment were quite good, and the atmosphere was well-crafted. Because of this, business here had always been decent.

It was just past five, and some audience members had already arrived to buy tickets and wait.

The shop could hold about two or three hundred people. If it were completely full, the nightly revenue would be quite substantial. If some well-known bands wanted to rent the place out for the night, they would have to pay at least 200,000 to 300,000 yen in venue fees. Looking at it this way, was Ichiji Hoshika actually a little rich girl?

However, it was hard to say exactly how much she earned, as the costs for purchasing and maintaining the venue, sound, and lighting equipment were truly exorbitant, not to mention the salaries for the PA and the Lighting Technician. If they encountered any special circumstances, they could even go bankrupt.

After a while, Yamada Ryo and Ichiji Nijika opened the door and arrived.

"Ah, Mr. Talent, you're here!"

"Huh? What's with this outfit?"

Although Sakurakoji Talent was wearing a mask, the two recognized him at a glance; after all, that straight white hair was far too dazzling. Seeing the mask on his face, they both felt confused.

He trotted out the same excuse, earning Yamada Ryo's disdain and Ichiji Nijika's agreement.

After exchanging greetings, the two went straight to the recording studio in the back to conduct their training for the day.

The rest of the process went smoothly: selling tickets, grabbing drinks, selling tickets, grabbing drinks... occasionally helping to tidy up and clean. There was no difficulty to speak of.

After the performance ended in the evening, he helped clean up and move the musical instruments and equipment, and the day's work was finished.

For the next few days, he continued to repeat this kind of life.

During the day, he would stroll around the streets looking for fated people, and in the evenings and nights, he would work at Starry, deepening his relationship with the others. In the blink of an eye, it was early February.

"Phew, the weather is gradually getting warmer. Should I wear fewer clothes tomorrow?"

Stopping in front of a convenience store, Sakurakoji Talent sighed.

The sun was shining brightly today, and it was indeed a bit hot after walking on the road for a long time.

Not to mention inside Starry; with the heating on, plus the noisy, boiling environment of at least a hundred people every night, it was enough to make one's blood boil just looking at it.

Walking into the store, the soothing music comforted the slightly restless heart of the person entering.

Picking a bottle of latte from the shelf at random, he walked to the checkout counter, took out his leather wallet, and his slender, fair fingers brushed past a few bank cards and banknotes before handing over a coin. When he saw the face of the person receiving it, his movements paused.

"One latte, 350 yen total. You gave me 500 yen, so here is 150 yen change. Please take it."

The young cashier politely handed him the change, her eyes darting away, her face flushed.

Taking the change, he put it into his wallet. Sakurakoji Talent opened the bottle cap, took a sip, quietly observed the young cashier in front of him, and let out a soft breath.

Then, without saying anything, he left the place silently.

"Please come again."

The girl with the chestnut-brown ponytail felt her face heating up and couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't woken up yet and was hallucinating. This customer was so beautiful it felt unreal; she even felt a bit inferior standing in front of him, but she still enthusiastically gave the farewell line she had said countless times.

Hard work pays off.

Walking on the bluestone street, Sakurakoji Talent threw the empty bottle into the trash can, hands in his pockets, and sighed in his heart.

Even if it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, there's still a chance of finding it.

This area was at the border of Sumida Ward and Taito Ward; it seemed he would have to come here often in the future.

The beginning of a good relationship doesn't require overly strong utilitarianism; a steady, long-term approach is the best policy. He memorized the current location and walked away with small, quick steps.

Humming a song by a recently rising female band, he headed toward the station, preparing to go to Shimokitazawa.

"Come into the world, the concerto of exquisite existence echoes through."

Today's wandering mission was complete, with a small harvest, and he was in a great mood!

"Young Master, these are the names and introductions of all the high schools within Tokyo."

On this day, Yashiro Ichiyo placed a thick stack of documents in front of Sakurakoji Talent and explained respectfully.

"Including both vocational and general schools, the data for every institution registered with the Ministry of Education is here."

"Among them, we particularly recommend 12 schools that focus on college advancement, 5 that emphasize artistic cultivation, and 3 vocational academies that have achieved excellence in their respective fields."

"Thank you, Ichiyo." Sakurakoji Talent turned his gaze toward the documents, flipped through them briefly, and pulled out the table of contents.

His nimble fingertips turned the white pages, his expression turning uncharacteristically serious as he focused intently on reading every name. Most were names he had never heard before, but he was patient, going through them one by one. By the time he finished reading the names of hundreds of schools, he smiled—a very happy smile.

As expected, fate was still on his side. After some searching, he had truly found a few familiar names.

Totsuki Culinary Academy, Moon Forest Girls' Academy, Toyonosaki Academy, Shuuka High School, Seishun Academy...

He didn't need to look at the details for these schools to know their specific situations, and he didn't need to look at the others either; they weren't in his consideration anyway.

"So, which one should I choose?" Sakurakoji Talent rested his chin on his hand, pondering the question.

Although having so many options made him happy—at the very least, it meant the possibility of his body being cured had increased significantly—school wasn't a social gathering or a dinner party. He couldn't be careless; he had to find a school with the best cost-benefit ratio.

After thinking for a long while, he made his decision.

"This one." He pulled out the documents for that school, pointed to the name on the cover, and looked at Ichiyo.

Ichiyo's expression remained calm. No matter which school the Young Master chose, it was a good thing for them, and the Madam and Master would follow the Young Master's preferences. As long as the Young Master was willing to go out and could grow up and live healthily, they were satisfied.

But when she saw the name Sakurakoji Talent was pointing at, her jaw dropped.

"Young Master, are you really choosing this one?!"

"Mm, is it not allowed?"

"Well, what do you think?"

"Then I'll just have to ask Uncle Iyo for a favor. Uncle's influence is meant to be used for times like this."

"I imagine he will be quite surprised, but... he shouldn't object."

"Haha."

Imagining the look of shock on Okura Iyo's typically cold and indifferent handsome face, he couldn't help but laugh.

"By the way, Ichiyo, please prepare some desserts for me later. I want to give them as gifts to the people who have been taking care of me these past few days."

"Yes! I will cook them myself! I guarantee I will not bring shame to the Sakurakoji Family!"

"Mm, I trust you."

He stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and stared at the empty courtyard outside.

The yellowish grass was beginning to show hints of green, and the cherry blossom trees, which had previously shed their leaves, were starting to sprout new buds. After February came March, and after March came April—the start of the school season. The time was not far off.

If this were his previous life, and someone had told him he would one day look forward to going to school, he would have thought they were crazy and given them a few knocks on the head.

What kind of fool would think going to school was something to be happy about? Especially high school. Even after entering society, he had never wanted to go back and do high school all over again; the dual pressure of school and family was enough to experience once.

Of course, that was also because he had done reasonably well on his exams back then.

In the afternoon, he didn't go out to scour Tokyo again, but instead locked himself in his room, scrolling through X and YouTube, reading news on the internet.

He couldn't put all his eggs in one basket; he couldn't overlook other sources of information either. Clues were always better in abundance. If anything, the internet was his most important source of information, and this was something he couldn't delegate to others; he had to discern it himself.

Even in his spare time, or when Starry wasn't busy, he would open his phone and enter "internet addict" mode. This led Nijika and the others to tease him, saying they hadn't expected him to be such an internet-addicted youth, and that they had misjudged him.

After days of high-intensity web surfing, he had indeed gained some extra insights.

"Fallen Genius: Once-celebrated child star now content with mediocrity."

"Chiba City's Yukinoshita Real Estate plans secondary development of abandoned residential areas in Hanamigawa Ward."

"The Rise of Underground Idols: The path to fame for the emerging idol group B-Komachi."

"Shocking: Band 'Diamond Dust' suspected of internal discord, on the verge of splitting up."

"Analysis of Gold Prize winners in the Wind Instrument Music competition over the years."

"..."

He had to admit, his harvest during this period was quite fruitful. If he could integrate the information he had gathered, he believed he could definitely resolve the stubborn illness plaguing him.

But unfortunately, he was only one person and couldn't be in two places at once, especially since many of these people weren't in Tokyo, making it difficult to contact them all in a short time. Not to mention, simple contact alone wouldn't solve his problems.

Through his interactions with the people at Starry during this time, he had roughly understood the requirements for achieving his goals.

That was: to increase his connections and emotional bonds with Omni-Anime characters.

The first time he treated Yamada Ryo to a meal, he gained her gratitude, which was why his body had changed for the first time.

The effect didn't occur during his initial meeting and conversation with Yamada Ryo, but after the meal was finished, which explained a few things.

Later, as he interacted with Ichiji Nijika and the others, the effect wasn't a one-time thing; rather, he received feedback indirectly as the time he spent working there increased.

As of now, the total severe pain in his body had been reduced by about one-thousandth!

In other words, just finding the people wasn't enough; he had to build bonds, cultivate relationships, and gain a deep understanding of them to achieve the maximum effect.

"Ptooey! What kind of trash setting is this! Isn't this just forcing me to become a scumbag?"

"If I actually get hacked to death by a yandere one day, are you going to take responsibility for it?"

Sakurakoji Talent slammed his phone onto the soft quilt, his face full of righteous indignation as he pointed at the empty air and cursed.

He had always followed the principle of 'passing through a hundred flowers without a single leaf sticking to him,' never intending to build deep relationships with others; he was well aware of his own charm.

Or rather, he had long since seen through the cold reality of this world: this damn place was a world composed entirely of face-obsessed superficial people!

As long as you were good-looking, no matter how terrible your personality was or how outrageous your behavior, there would always be a crowd of people making excuses for you. And with his looks, even if he just stood there doing nothing, he couldn't avoid a group of perverted face-obsessed fans swooning over him, or even developing into outrageous stalker-like relationships...

Not to mention if he were to take the initiative to build friendly, loving relationships with others—wouldn't that just be asking for his life!

Moreover, looking at the current, extremely slow progress, just how many people would he have to build a "friendly" relationship with before he could completely escape this shitty fate?

He could almost imagine that, many years from now, he would be surrounded by a swarm of beauties, each with a dark expression, holding props like kitchen knives, electric batons, whips, and insect repellent, asking him exactly what his stance was. Just thinking about it made his back break out in a cold sweat.

Sakurakoji Talent opened his tightly shut eyes, pulling himself out of the nightmare and exhaling a breath he had been holding for a long time. Although he felt speechless and furious about such conditions, he had no better options for now, unless he was willing to live his whole life with this even more godforsaken constitution.

"Since things have come to this, I might as well go to work."

Glancing at the clock in the room, Sakurakoji Talent helplessly shelved this thorny problem. Thinking too much was useless, and he couldn't change anything anyway.

Volume 1: The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies : Chapter 11: True Love at the Corner

Carrying a large bag of carefully packaged snacks, Sakurakoji Talent hurried out of Sakura Mansion, his pace unconsciously quickening—he was a bit pressed for time.

Although Starry was quite lenient regarding time and it wouldn't matter if he were a little late, as a modern, upstanding youth with a slight touch of moral perfectionism, he still tried his best not to be late whenever possible.

He got off the train, squeezed through the crowd, and navigated the familiar streets with ease, quickening his pace to reach the next transfer point.